Sachin Pilot slams BJP over reports of cow deaths in Rajasthan

PCC President Sachin Pilot on Tuesday accused the BJP government of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of cows in the state-run Hingonia cow shelter here.

"The BJP government has totally failed in taking care of cows. The situation in the Hingonia gaushala is very grim but the government has totally ignored this sensitive issue," Pilot told reporters here.

"Gaushalas are suffering in the BJP rule...It comes to power on riding people's sentiments attached to cows but later forgets them," he said at the PCC after visiting the Hingonia cow shelter.

He said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have given the statement against cow vigilantes two years back so that the incidents which have happened in the name of cow's protection could have been stopped from taking place.

"The PM needs to ensure that those who take law in their hands are strictly dealt with," he said.

In his first public denouncement of cow vigilantes, some of whom flogged Dalits in Gujarat for skinning a dead cow, Modi had said in Delhi he felt enraged at such "anti-social elements" who indulged in crimes by the night and masqueraded as cow protectors by the day.

The Raje government has been criticised by Congress, VHP, and Bajrang Dal over the death of cows.

Congress alleged that 100 cows had died due to "mismanagement and lack of facilities" at the gaushala while VHP claimed that more than 500 cows died due to the "inhuman behaviour" of Raje government towards them.

Commenting on the results of bypolls of local bodies and Panchayti Raj institutions declared on Monday, Pilot said the Congress has gained in the bypolls which shows that the BJP is "losing" confidence of people.